


Magical Burnout

by ZombieQueen93



Category: Fairly OddParents
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Family, Friendship, Gen, Love, Mental Breakdown, Stress, Therapy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:48:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29806575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZombieQueen93/pseuds/ZombieQueen93
Summary: Anti Wanda wasn’t well to begin with, but the stress of parenting Foop makes her even worse and causes her to get Magical Burnout. Consequently, so does Wanda. Can they both recover? And how will Cosmo and his Anti Fairy counterpart cope with handling the kids on their own as their wives seek treatment?
Relationships: Anti-Cosmo/Anti-Wanda (Fairly OddParents), Cosmo Cosma/Wanda Fairywinkle Cosma
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a story that's kind of an outlet for me as I go through this diagnosis and treatment thing. The Fairly Oddparents and fanfiction got me through my first breakdown when I was a kid so I figured I could combine the two now that I'm an adult and see if it'll give me a little relief. Chapters will be updated as things happen and I have time to write about it, but don't worry, I will update.

Anti Cosmo was sound asleep. In his dream, he was ruling Fairy World with his wife at his side. The painful screams of the fairies as they slaved over his newly acquired land brought music to his ears. Suddenly, Anti Wanda was screaming too. He was about to ask her what was wrong, when suddenly, he was jolted awake by the real Anti Wanda, who was crying next to him. 

“What is it, dearest?” He asked sleepily. 

“I don’t feel good and I can’t get water!” She cried.

“What are you talking about? Just use your wand.” Anti Cosmo said, annoyed that she had woken him up with such a silly problem. 

“I can’t, I can’t get it to work!” Anti Wanda screamed. 

Anti Cosmo sighed and grabbed her wand, poofing up a glass of water for her. “It does work, see?” 

“No, I can’t make it work!” She exclaimed, shaking her wand. The wand didn’t even light up with the very dim light that all Anti Fairy wands had. 

Anti Cosmo sat up straighter. It wasn’t like he was going to get anymore sleep and he had a feeling that something was seriously wrong. “Darling, you said you weren’t feeling well, what’s wrong?” 

“I can’t explain it, I just don’t feel good; I don’t feel like myself and I’m scared, Cozzie!” Anti Wanda began to cry again. 

Meanwhile, in Dimmsdale, it was morning already and Wanda was having a hard time getting out of bed. Cosmo was very concerned, but was trying not to show it. 

“I don’t know what’s wrong, I just can’t seem to get my wings going today.” Wanda said, after her third attempt to fly. 

“Maybe it’s a cramp.” Cosmo said, climbing behind her and pulling on her wings. 

“Ow, stop, that hurts!” Wanda snapped. 

“Sorry.” Cosmo said, floating back to the side of the bed, where he had been before. 

“I don’t think it’s a cramp, they just feel really tired.” Wanda said, trying to stretch her wings, she attempted to fly again and this time was able to make it out of the bed, slowly. 

“Yay!” Cosmo cheered, applauding her. 

Just then, they heard the sound of Baby Poof crying in the next room. Cosmo’s cheering had obviously woken him. They both laughed as they headed across the hall to the nursery. 

“Did Daddy wake you up, sweetie?” Wanda asked, picking Poof up and bringing him to the rocking chair, where she sat down, a little heavier than she had meant to, and tried to poof him up his morning bottle. But when she waved her wand, nothing happened. She tried again, but the wand wouldn’t light up. “Cosmo, is your wand working?”

Cosmo lifted his wand and it lit up just fine. “Yeah, why?” He asked. 

“I can’t seem to get mine to work; can you make Poof a bottle?” Wanda asked. 

Cosmo poofed up a bottle for the baby and handed it to Wanda. While Poof happily accepted his breakfast, Wanda tried again to make her wand work, but she couldn’t. It was like something was blocking her magic. She was beginning to get scared and suddenly realized that she was very thirsty and dizzy. “Cosmo, can you please get me a glass of water.” She said. 

“Wanda, what’s wrong?” Cosmo asked, poofing up a glass of water for her. 

“I don’t know, I don’t feel well and I can’t seem to get my magic to work, I think we need to call the doctor.” Wanda replied. 

Cosmo nodded and pulled out his phone. 

Back in Anti Fairy World, Dr. Rip Studwell was in Anti Cosmo and Anti Wanda’s bedroom, checking on Anti Wanda. 

“I’m not sure what’s happening, she just all of a sudden couldn’t even poof up a glass of water.” Anti Cosmo was explaining. 

“I feel real dizzy and thirsty and like my heart is about to beat out of my chest.” Anti Wanda said, as Dr. Studwell checked her heartbeat. 

“Her heart rate is definitely elevated, I’m going to do some blood work just to be safe, but I think this is stress related.” Dr. Studwell said to Anti Cosmo, after he finished checking her heart and lungs. 

“What do you mean?” Anti Cosmo asked, sitting on the bed and pressing Anti Wanda’s head against his chest so she wouldn’t have to watch the doctor stick the needle in her arm to draw blood. 

“Well, considering she just had a baby a few months ago, she could be suffering from Magical Burnout from the stress of raising a child; a lot of new mothers get it.” Dr. Studwell said. 

His phone rang just as he was finishing up with the blood draw. “Hello,” He answered it. 

“Dr. Studwell, it’s Cosmo, I need you to come over, something is going on with Wanda!” Said Cosmo’s frantic voice on the other end. 

“I’ll be right there.” Dr. Studwell said, hanging up. 

“But what about my wife?” Anti Cosmo asked. 

“I’ll get her blood test to the lab just to rule out a physical cause, but in the meantime, I’m going to give you this number for the Fairy World mental health clinic; just like myself, they take care of Fairies and Anti Fairies, call them and get her in for an evaluation.” Dr. Studwell said, handing him a card and poofing away. 

He reappeared in Cosmo and Wanda’s castle, where Wanda was still sitting in the rocking chair, but Poof was finished with his bottle and his parents had sent him out to play with Timmy. 

“I don’t know what’s wrong, Dr. Studwell, it’s like something is blocking my magic and I keep having dizzy spells and heart palpitations.” Wanda said. 

“Alright, let me check your heartbeat and get some blood; I was just checking on your Anti Fairy counterpart and she’s complaining of the same thing.” Dr. Studwell said, taking out his stethoscope. 

“Is she going to be ok, Doctor?” Cosmo asked after Dr. Studwell had finished with his examination. 

“I’ll tell you what I told the Anti Fairies, I’m going to rule out a physical cause with the blood test, but one of them could be suffering from Magical Burnout and it could be affecting the other, that’s why I think they both need to be evaluated at the Fairy World mental health clinic.” Dr. Studwell said. 

“Do you think one of them is crazy?” Cosmo asked. 

“Cosmo!” Wanda scolded. 

“No, I think one of them is not handling the stress of raising a new baby very well and therapy can help alleviate some of their symptoms.” Dr. Studwell said. 

“I don’t mind seeing a therapist if it will help.” Wanda said. 

“Great, I’ll give you the number and get this blood sample to the lab, in the meantime, try to hang in there.” Dr. Studwell said, handing Wanda the same card he handed Anti Cosmo and poofing away. 

Wanda sighed. 

“Do you want me to stay?” Cosmo asked. 

“No, you go take care of Timmy and Poof, I’m going to take a nap.” Wanda said. 

They kissed each other goodbye and Cosmo poofed out to Timmy’s room while Wanda slowly made her way back to the bed. She really was tired. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two! I'm enjoying writing this because my own therapist actually thinks that fanfiction is a good outlet for me, so writing this is actually helping me with my own issues. I probably won't update again until I get the results back from my own blood test so I can tie that in, but that should happen soon. By the way, thanks for the Kudos!

It was Monday morning and, in Anti Cosmo’s castle in Anti Fairy World, Foop was demanding breakfast and Anti Wanda was still asleep. Anti Cosmo was glad that Anti Wanda’s therapist was coming for their first session. At least they would be getting the ball rolling on getting her better. 

“MOTHER, WHERE IS MY BREAKFAST?!?!?” Foop shouted from his crib. 

Anti Cosmo sighed and floated into Foop’s room. “Foop, you mother is sleeping, I’ll get your breakfast if you just give me a second.” 

“Why won’t she get her lazy bum out of bed?” Foop asked. They hadn’t explained what was going on to him yet. 

“She’s tired, now here’s your bottle.” Anti Cosmo said, poofing up a bottle and handing it to Foop, who took one sip. 

“It’s cold!” Foop snapped and threw the bottle on the floor. 

Anti Cosmo poofed the bottle away and poofed up a new one, this time checking to make sure it was warm before giving it to Foop. He accepted it this time. Anti Cosmo left Foop with his breakfast and went to his bedroom to wake Anti Wanda. For him, her therapist could not get there fast enough. 

Meanwhile, at Cosmo and Wanda’s castle, Wanda was talking to her therapist, Drake. 

“So you were saying that you’ve had Magical Burnout before.” Drake said. 

“Yeah, I had it back in high school, but it wasn’t like this.” Wanda said. 

“And do you know what caused it?” Drake asked. 

“I was just under so much stress, my grades had dropped because of a relationship I was in and I was trying to bring them back up.” Wanda said.

“Was anyone else putting pressure on you to bring your grades up?” Drake asked. 

“Yes, my father, he wanted my sister and me to get into good colleges.” Wanda said. 

“Ok, was there anything else going on then?” Drake asked. 

“Yeah, I was dating Cosmo at the time, but he broke up with me because of the Burnout, that’s kind of why my father isn’t a big fan of him.” Wanda said. 

“It sounds like your father has a lot of influence in your life.” Drake said. 

“He does, that’s why I want him on board with my treatment.” Wanda said. 

“I think it would be a great idea to have as many people as you want on board with your treatment, the bigger the support system you have with this, the better.” Drake said. 

“I think so too.” Wanda said. 

“So we’re going to wait for the results of your blood test because it could absolutely be a physical illness causing this, but I do think it would be best if you go through this treatment too because you have had Magical Burnout before, so you probably need a refresher course on coping skills and things like that anyway.” Drake said, getting up from the table where they were sitting. 

“That definitely sounds good to me.” Wanda said, also getting up. 

“Great, so we’ll make an appointment for next week and Tamara will also be here next time and we’ll go from there; in the meantime, I need you to start thinking about ways to reduce your stress.” Drake said. 

“Will do.” Wanda said. 

“Great, I’ll see you next week.” Drake said, poofing away. 

In Anti Fairy World, Anti Cosmo was still trying to wake Anti Wanda. 

“Come on, dearest, you need to get up, your therapist will be here soon.” He said, rubbing her wings. 

“No, I’m tired.” Anti Wanda said sleepily, burying her face in the pillow. 

Realizing he was going to have to do this the hard way, Anti Cosmo pulled the blankets off of the bed and pulled his wife into a sitting position. 

“Hey!” Anti Wanda exclaimed. 

“Sorry, but this is not negotiable.” Anti Cosmo said, poofing her pajamas off and poofing her into her clothes. 

“It would be if I knew what that word meant.” Anti Wanda muttered as she got up and tried to float to the bathroom, but halfway there, a wave of dizziness hit her again. Luckily Anti Cosmo caught her before she hit the floor. He put his hand on her back to stabilize her as they floated to the bathroom. 

Once they got to the bathroom, Anti Wanda started to brush her teeth, but one tooth hurt every time the toothbrush touched it. “I think I’m gonna lose another tooth.” She said through a mouth full of toothpaste. 

“I have heard you grinding your teeth at night, perhaps we should get you fitted for a new mouthguard.” Anti Cosmo suggested. 

“Can we do that later; I’m tired.” Anti Wanda said. 

“After your therapist gets here.” Anti Cosmo said. 

In Dimmsdale, Cosmo and Wanda were seeing Timmy off to school. Wanda was floating a little lower than Cosmo, a fact that had not escaped Timmy’s notice. 

“Are you sure you’re ok?” Timmy asked. 

“Yeah, my wings are just tired today; do you have your history homework?” Wanda asked. 

“In my backpack, thanks for checking it for me last night.” Timmy replied. 

“No problem, be sure to correct your mistakes before you turn it in.” Wanda instructed. 

“I will; see you guys later!” Timmy said, waving goodbye to them before heading out the door. 

“He’s not going to put that much effort into his homework.” Cosmo said with a laugh after Timmy was gone. 

“I know, that’s why I changed a couple of answers for him.” Wanda said, lowering herself down to the bed. 

“So how did the therapy appointment go?” Cosmo asked, sitting next to her. 

“It went ok, we’re still going to wait for the blood test results, but he thinks I need a refresher course on coping skills and I need to think of ways to reduce my stress.” Wanda said. 

“I’ll try to help if I can.” Cosmo said. 

“Just don’t break up with me again.” Wanda said. 

Cosmo nodded. The last thing he wanted to do was leave her in her time of need and possibly anger Big Daddy again. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys don't mind the short chapter. I just got my own blood test results back (they're normal) so I thought I'd go ahead and update, but the next update probably won't come until Monday or Tuesday. I hope you guys are enjoying this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. I don't know how it's going to end yet because I don't know how my own recovery is going to end, but hopefully we'll have a happy ending and I'm hoping to throw in some more fun scenes as the story goes on. For now, enjoy chapter 3!

Anti Cosmo poofed up a fire extinguisher and hurried to Foop’s playroom. While Anti Wanda was talking to her therapist, Foop had decided to set something on fire again. 

“Foop, I understand you’re having fun, but can you please play with something else until your mother is finished with her meeting?” He asked, after putting out the flames and restoring the pillow Foop had burned. 

“Why is she meeting with a Fairy anyway?” Foop asked, putting his flame thrower down and picking up his favorite slingshot. 

“Because the doctor says she should.” Anti Cosmo said. 

“Why?” Foop asked. 

“Because she isn’t feeling well.” Anti Cosmo replied, picking up the flame thrower and putting it away. 

“Why?” Foop asked, shooting a thumbtack across the room with his slingshot. 

“Because she just isn’t, now play with your slingshot and don’t set anything else on fire.” Anti Cosmo said, leaving the room and shutting the door behind him. 

He sighed in frustration. Foop was at the stage in life where he wanted to know why things were the way they were. He supposed he should be glad that his son wanted to learn, but it was so annoying to hear him ask “Why?” all the time. He floated into the dining room, where Anti Wanda was talking to Drake. 

“Sorry about that, he just got a new flame thrower.” He apologized. 

“No problem, we’re just about finished up here; I wanted to let you know that we are going to make another appointment for next week and in the meantime, I need you to help her reduce her stress levels.” Drake said. 

“I can take care of Foop until she’s recovered.” Anti Cosmo said, silently hoping she would recover quickly. 

“She’ll also need help with daily tasks; we’re still going to wait on the results of the blood test, but I strongly suspect that she’s the one with Magical Burnout.” Drake told Anti Cosmo as they left the dining room and headed for the front door. 

“I’ll do everything I can.” Anti Cosmo said. 

“Great, so I’m going to be back next week and my peer support, Tamara, will be here too; hopefully once we rule out a physical cause, we can start to teach her coping skills so that she’ll be able to handle the stress better and you won’t have to take care of her for much longer.” Drake said. 

“Thank you, we’ll see you then.” Anti Cosmo said. 

After Drake left, Anti Cosmo went to peek in on Foop, who was still in his playroom flinging thumbtacks at a picture of his Fairy counterpart, and then went back to the dining room, where Anti Wanda was still sitting despondently in her chair. 

“How are you feeling, dearest?” He asked. 

“Scared and sad, but also glad we’re doing something about this; I don’t like to feel this way.” Anti Wanda responded. 

“How about we make some lunch, I know how much you like to cook.” Anti Cosmo said, putting his arm around her and leading her to the kitchen. 

“Yay, cooking!” Anti Wanda exclaimed. 

Back at Timmy’s house, Cosmo and Wanda were in their castle. Wanda was sitting on their bed with a laptop while Cosmo flew around the room, playing with Poof. The sound of her husband and son’s laughter lifted her spirits a little as she logged the wishes Timmy had made the night before. Since she couldn’t really grant the wishes, her only job was to make sure each wish was entered into the daily reports. It had always been the most boring, but easiest, part of being a fairy godparent. 

Just then, her phone rang. “Hello,” She answered it. 

“Hello, Wanda, this is Dr. Rip Studwell calling about your blood test.” Dr. Studwell said on the other end. 

“Ok, are the results back?” Wanda asked. 

Cosmo and Poof stopped playing and stared expectantly at Wanda. 

“I’ve got good news and bad news, the good news is your results came back and everything is normal.” Dr. Studwell said. 

“Great, what’s the bad news?” Wanda asked. 

“The bad news is that Anti Wanda is believed to be the one with Magical Burnout, so until she recovers, you’re stuck with the symptoms.” Dr. Studwell said. 

Wanda nearly dropped the phone. When she’d had Magical Burnout, it had taken almost a year to recover. Could she handle this for that long? “Dr. Studwell, is there anything I can do?” She asked. 

“You can keep seeing your therapist and learn ways to cope with it until it’s over, but it won’t be over until Anti Wanda recovers.” Dr. Studwell said. 

“I guess I’ll do that, then, thank you Dr. Studwell.” Wanda said. 

“No problem, try to hang in there.” Dr. Studwell said. 

Wanda hung up her phone and looked up at Cosmo, who was looking concerned. “The blood tests came back normal, but Anti Wanda has Magical Burnout, so I’m stuck like this until she recovers.” She explained with tears in her eyes.

“Mama” Poof said, floating to her and giving her the best hug his little arms could manage. 

She cradled him in her arms, a tear falling from her cheek and landing on his head. Cosmo floated to the bed and put his arms around his wife and son. He was going to support her through this no matter what. 

Back in Anti Fairy World, Anti Wanda hung up her phone and looked at Anti Cosmo and Foop, who were both staring at her, the delicious lunch she had cooked for them was forgotten for the moment. 

“Well, what did the doctor say?” Anti Cosmo asked. 

“The blood tests came back normal and I have Magical Burnout.” Anti Wanda said. 

“What’s that?” Foop asked. 

Anti Wanda looked at Anti Cosmo, it was clearly time to tell him what was going on. 

“Son, it’s when a Fairy or Anti Fairy has trouble handling stress and it affects their mood and their ability to do magic, or just about anything else.” Anti Cosmo answered. 

“Ok, can I go outside and play now?” Foop asked. 

“Go on, darlin’” Anti Wanda said. 

Foop stuffed the rest of his food in his mouth and then got up and went outside to play. Neither of them had expected him to be too concerned with his mother’s condition. 

“So, what did he say to do about it?” Anti Cosmo asked, once Foop was gone. 

“I need to keep seeing my therapist and he wants me to try some meds.” Anti Wanda said. 

“Well if he thinks it will help, then that’s what we shall do.” Anti Cosmo said, kissing her cheek. 

Anti Wanda smiled. She was scared and she hated not being able to do magic, or even basic daily tasks without help, but it meant a lot that Anti Cosmo was going to be there for her. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys don't mind the longer chapter, but a lot happened that I had to work into the story. Next update will probably be sometime this week because I have another appointment, but if nothing else happens, I'll probably update again next week. For now, enjoy chapter 4!

Anti Cosmo woke up to Foop demanding breakfast again, but this time, he knew to poof the bottle up and check to make sure it was warm before bringing it to his son and this time, Foop accepted the bottle without complaining. While Foop was drinking his breakfast, Anti Cosmo checked his schedule for the day. He had to go to the bank to deposit some money. 

He left the nursery and went to his room, where Anti Wanda was sleeping. “Dearest, it’s time to wake up.” He said, gently rubbing her wings. He had learned that it was best to start trying to wake her long before he actually needed her to wake up. 

“Ok,” She said, and then turned over to go back to sleep. 

He climbed onto the bed on the side she was facing. “I need to go to the bank and I thought we’d take the car today.” He said. 

“Have fun.” Anti Wanda said, turning away from him. 

“I can’t leave you and Foop here, so you have to go with me, teacup.” Anti Cosmo said, sliding his hand down her arm. 

“I don’t feel good.” Anti Wanda said. 

“I know you don’t, dear, but it may be good for you to get out of the castle for a bit and go for a little ride; maybe if you can try to handle going to the bank, we’ll stop and get some candy.” Anti Cosmo offered. 

“Marshmallow chickies?” Anti Wanda asked. 

“Sure, if that’s what you want.” Anti Cosmo said. 

“Ok” Anti Wanda said, sitting up. 

In Cosmo and Wanda’s castle, Wanda was going stir crazy. “I can’t grant wishes, it’s hard to do basic tasks, all I can do is mope around the castle and log wishes, I’m tired of this!” She exclaimed. 

Luckily, Timmy was in the bathroom, getting ready for school and Poof was in his playroom, playing with his stuffed animals, so there was no danger of waking anyone up. 

“Maybe we can go somewhere?” Cosmo suggested. 

“I can’t even generate enough magic to get to Timmy’s room without help, Cosmo!” Wanda snapped. 

“It was just a thought.” Cosmo said. 

“I’m sorry, I just don’t know how much longer I can handle this; my sanity depends on Anti Wanda’s sanity, do you know how frustrating that is?” Wanda asked. 

“No, I don’t.” Cosmo said, poofing them both into Timmy’s room so that they could see him off to school. 

“My ability to change shape only depended on Anti Cosmo’s ability to get out of a maximum security prison.” Cosmo continued. 

“Yeah but he’s a genius and she’s...not.” Wanda said. 

“Why don’t you go check on Anti Wanda if you’re that worried?” Timmy asked, coming out of the bathroom, fully dressed and ready for school. They had explained to him what was going on after Wanda’s blood tests came back normal because he had begun to ask why she wasn’t able to grant his wishes without Cosmo’s help. 

“You heard all of that?” Wanda asked.

“Poof left his walkie talkie on.” Timmy said, pulling the other walkie talkie out of his pocket. 

Poof suddenly poofed into the room. “Sorry” He said. 

“No problem, bro, see you after school.” Timmy said, giving Poof a brotherly nudge in the shoulder and picking up his backpack. 

“Bye Tim Tim!” Poof said, waving goodbye to Timmy. 

“See you later, Sport.” Wanda said. 

Timmy waved goodbye to them and headed out the door. He had stopped bringing them to school after they had explained to him what Magical Burnout was. He didn’t want to make things worse for Wanda by forcing her to go to school with him all day and he didn’t want to make things worse for himself by only having Cosmo to grant wishes for him in public. 

“You know, Timmy brought up an interesting point, why don’t we go check on Anti Wanda?” Wanda asked. 

“I can poof us there, if that’s what you want to do.” Cosmo said. 

“Yeah, let’s do it, she’s got to be making some progress.” Wanda said, grabbing Poof as Cosmo poofed them to Anti Fairy World. 

They appeared in the parking lot of a store, next to them was a car with Anti Cosmo behind the wheel and Foop strapped into a car seat in the back. Anti Wanda wasn’t with them. 

“What are you doing here?” Anti Cosmo asked. 

“Well, we were here to check on Anti Wanda, but where is she?” Wanda asked, leaning into the passenger side window. 

“She’s inside, I told her she could get candy if she could handle going to the bank, why do you care?” Anti Cosmo asked, annoyed. 

“You’re forgetting that if she’s sick, I’m sick.” Wanda said, equally annoyed. 

Poof stuck his head into the passenger side window next to Wanda. “Hi Foop!” He said to his Anti Fairy counterpart. 

“Get lost, round one!” Foop snapped. 

Poof giggled, and even Anti Cosmo had to smile at that. 

“When did he learn to talk?” Anti Cosmo asked. 

“A few weeks ago, actually; so how is Anti Wanda?” Wanda asked

“She’s struggling, but she’s making progress, I was actually able to get her out of the castle today.” Anti Cosmo said. 

“She couldn’t go out before?” Cosmo asked. 

“She had panic attacks every time she tried.” Anti Cosmo said. 

“Yeah, I know the feeling, I want to get out of our castle, but I have trouble travelling long distances.” Wanda said. 

“She’s like that too, it’s like being married to a toddler.” Anti Cosmo said. 

“I know that feeling too, on a good day.” Wanda said, looking at Cosmo, who was watching Anti Wanda come out of the store with a bag. 

“I got so scared, I wanted to run out of there!” Anti Wanda said, then she noticed Cosmo, Wanda, and Poof. “Hey Fairies!” 

“They’re here to check on you, dearest.” Anti Cosmo said, as Wanda floated aside so that Anti Wanda could get in the car. 

“Why?” Anti Wanda asked. 

“Because I’m sick too; how are you feeling?” Wanda asked. 

“Not good, but better than I was; I waited in line and got me some marshmallow chickies!” Anti Wanda said. 

“Good job, my love!” Anti Cosmo said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“And yay, marshmallow chickies!” Cosmo cheered. 

“I think I’d rather have chocolate.” Wanda said. 

“Ew!” Anti Wanda said, sticking her tongue out. 

They all laughed. 

“Well, we had better get going, Anti Wanda has an appointment with her therapists this afternoon.” Anti Cosmo said. 

“So do I; I’m glad you’re making progress, Anti Wanda.” Wanda said. 

“Me too.” Anti Wanda said with a smile.

They all waved goodbye to each other, except for Foop, who stuck his tongue out at Poof. 

Cosmo, Wanda, and Poof poofed back to Dimmsdale, and Anti Cosmo started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. 

“Why are we being nice to them?” Foop asked, as they pulled onto the road that led out of the main part of Anti Fairy World. 

“Because we have to get your mother well before we can take over their world, son.” Anti Cosmo said as he turned onto the road that led to their castle and Anti Wanda grabbed a marshmallow chickie with her foot and bit into it. 

“Good luck with that.” Foop muttered. 

Back in Dimmsdale, Cosmo, Wanda, and Poof poofed into their castle. Wanda was not doing so well, so Cosmo sent Poof to his playroom and helped Wanda get to their bedroom. 

“I’m really tired and I feel dizzy.” Wanda said, as Cosmo turned down the sheets.

“You’re ok, just lie down.” Cosmo said, helping her into bed. 

Wanda lay back against the pillows and tried to do her breathing exercises. She almost got it under control, but anxiety gripped her chest again. She grabbed onto the sheets and tried to breathe through it. This time, she was able to get it back under control. 

“I want iced coffee, do you need something to drink?” Cosmo asked. 

“Yeah, decaf please.” Wanda said. 

Cosmo poofed them both up some iced coffee. “You know, you made it all the way to Anti Fairy World.” He said. 

“I did, it was a struggle, but I did it; that will be some good news to tell my therapists.” Wanda said. 

“It will; and we found out which coping skills work for travelling distances like that.” Cosmo said. 

“Yeah, maybe I can try to get out more often and field test some more coping skills.” Wanda said, sipping her iced coffee. 

“We can do that if you’re up to it.” Cosmo said. 

“I’ll talk to my therapists, but I’m sure it will be a good idea.” Wanda said. 

Back in Anti Fairy World, Anti Wanda wasn’t doing much better. She was curled up under the covers, clutching her pillow. 

“Remember your breathing, dear, it’ll pass, just breathe and relax.” Anti Cosmo said, rubbing her shoulders. Her muscles were so tight. 

Anti Wanda tried to do her breathing exercises. It was difficult to get started, but she eventually remembered to push her stomach out when she breathed in and pull it in when she breathed out. 

“That’s it, just keep doing that.” Anti Cosmo said, breathing with her. 

It took a good twenty minutes before she was fully calmed down enough to sit up. “I’m real cold and tired.” She said. 

“Why don’t we go into the kitchen and have a cup of tea?” Anti Cosmo suggested, helping her up. 

“What’s Foop doing?” Anti Wanda asked as they headed to the kitchen. 

“He’s napping.” Anti Cosmo said. 

“How’d you get him to do that?” Anti Wanda asked, surprised. Foop hated naps. 

“I told him not to go to sleep, so naturally he decided to do the opposite of what he was told.” Anti Cosmo said. 

They both laughed. Their son was a handful, but he was a good Anti Fairy. 

When they got to the kitchen, Anti Cosmo poofed up two cups of tea and they sat in the dining room to drink and wait for Anti Wanda’s therapists to get there. Drake and Tamara poofed in just as they were finishing their tea.

“Good afternoon, Anti Wanda, how are we feeling today?” Drake asked. 

“She’s in a nervous state of mind today, but she took a big step by going into town with me.” Anti Cosmo said. 

Anti Wanda nodded. 

“Oh wow, that was a big step; how did you feel going into town?” Tamara asked Anti Wanda. 

“I was scared, I wanted to run out of the store and go home.” Anti Wanda said. 

“But you didn’t?” Tamara asked. 

“No, I got what I wanted and waited in line and paid for it and then came out to the car.” Anti Wanda said. 

“That’s good, you’re making progress.” Drake said. 

“Yeah.” Anti Wanda said. 

“And how are the new medications working out?” Drake asked. 

“I’m having less panic attacks than I was and less depression, but I’m still having some.” Anti Wanda said. 

“That’s good; let’s give those medicines a few more weeks to work and if we don’t see any more improvement, we can talk to Dr. Studwell about raising the dose or trying something else.” Drake said. 

“I’ve noticed a reduction in panic attacks and depression too, but I’ve also noticed some side effects; she’s been sleeping and eating a lot more, is that normal?” Anti Cosmo asked. 

“This particular antidepressant can increase appetite and the antipsychotic can cause drowsiness, but that may level off once it really gets into her system.” Drake said. 

“And the beta blockers make me real woozy.” Anti Wanda said. 

“That’s common too, hopefully your body will adjust to that, but if it doesn’t in a few weeks, talk to Dr. Studwell.” Tamara said. 

“So other than that, how are you doing with the baby?” Drake asked. 

“I’m doing most of the work, but she is able to help sometimes.” Anti Cosmo said. 

“It seems like you’re taking a more hands-on approach to this treatment than your Fairy counterpart.” Drake said. 

“Yeah, we just finished a session with Wanda, and Cosmo is taking over the wish granting and helping with Poof, but Wanda doesn’t seem to need him to be fully involved in her treatment.” Tamara said. 

“Well, we are opposites.” Anti Cosmo said. 

“Yeah, I really need him to be as involved as he can with my treatment.” Anti Wanda said. 

“I think that’s a good idea.” Tamara said. 

“So I think for now, we need to work on positive self talk and we’ll need you to help her stop isolating.” Drake said to Anti Cosmo. 

“And what does that entail, exactly?” Anti Cosmo asked. 

“Basically, try to get her out of the castle as much as you can; you can do it slowly, but the more she does it, the more comfortable she’ll become with it.” Drake said. 

“Sounds good, but also scary.” Anti Wanda said. 

“It will be, at first, but you need to keep taking these steps.” Drake told her. 

“I can do that.” Anti Wanda said. 

“And I can help her.” Anti Cosmo said. 

“Great, so we’ll see you next week around the same time and we’ll talk about your progress; hopefully by September, you will have made enough progress that we can release you into a less intensive treatment, how does that sound?” Drake asked. 

“Sounds good.” Anti Wanda said. 

“Great, so while we’re here, I’ll get you to sign your plan of care and then I’ll let you get back to your tea.” Drake said, pulling out a piece of paper. 

The paper stated that Anti Wanda would have weekly sessions of intensive treatment until September, when she would be released to Fairy World Mental Health for weekly sessions at the clinic. It also said that she would be required to learn and practice coping skills that would lessen her anxiety and depression and stop it from interfering with her daily life. Everything looked good, so Anti Wanda signed it after Anti Cosmo checked it to make sure it looked good to him and Drake and Tamara signed it too before poofing away. 

“So, it looks like things will be looking up for you soon.” Anti Cosmo said. 

“Yeah, I hope so, I’m just glad you’re here for me.” Anti Wanda said, kissing him. 

Anti Cosmo was about to lean in for a deeper kiss, but was interrupted by the sound of Foop demanding a snack. They both laughed. Parenting Foop was a full time job. 


End file.
